An Adopted Framework to Evaluate ELT Supplementary Materials: The Applicability of “Top Notch” Software

It is vital in every language classroom that the best pos-
sible materials be chosen as they are considered to play the next most
important role in learning a foreign language after the teacher. All
teachers are responsible to evaluate what they intend to take to the
language classroom. These days, language teachers have the preference
to equip their classes with technology as a supplement to books, tapes,
and videos. In fact, CDs are replacing any other tool for language learn-
ing both in the classroom and at home. Therefore, a comprehensive set
of criteria consistent with the objectives of the course as well as the
principles of current language teaching methodologies is required to see
if the available software is good enough to be used. The aim of the
present study is, in the first place, going through some of the avail-
able ELT materials evaluation schemes to come up with a synthesized,
comprehensive framework specifically designed for evaluating language
software, and secondly, scrutinizing one of the recent language teaching
series, Top Notch, which has won to be taken in most of the language
classrooms in Iran as supplementary materials, to see if it meets the
criteria to have enough credibility for its present position in language
classrooms